The Gandhi family dynasty through the decades
The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has produced three prime ministers who governed India and dominated its politics and the Indian National Congress Party since independence.
Mohandas Gandhi, right, who led India to its independence, laughs with the nation's first post-independence prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, at the All-India Congress committee meeting on July 6, 1946.MAX DESFOR/The Associated Press
Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau met with Indira Gandhi, Nehru’s only child, in New Delhi on Nov. 29, 1983. Gandhi was elected prime minister in 1966 and ruled for 15 of the next 18 years. She was assassinated in 1984.ANDY CLARK/Reuters
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was welcomed at Delhi's International Airport by Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on April 13, 1985. Rajiv Gandhi became prime minister after the death of his mother, Indira Gandhi. He was swept from office in 1989 and assassinated in 1991.© Stringer India/Reuters
Congress Party members garland Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi after she was confirmed as leader in 1998. The Italian-born widow of Rajiv Gandhi was offered the leadership of Congress Party after her husband was killed. She initially rejected the offer but later agreed to become the party president.
Rahul Gandhi, son of India's ruling Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi, speaks during a news conference April 25, 2009.JAYANTA SHAW/Reuters